The Inglorious Art of Politicking

Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Mikhail Gorbachev, Silvio Berlusconi, Dr. Mahathir and Barack Obama. What do they all have in common? You guessed it right, and wrong. Correct– they are politicians of the highest order. Wrong – they are people with 101 amazing reason for every small thing that has happened, is happening, and that they presume to happen.

To clear the air and to know what we are dealing with, let me briefly explain the term 'politicking'. 'Politicking' simply means bickering in order to get the most out of a situation and for it to favour you. It is a word derived from ‘politics’. It refers to the political gamut most of the time, but its usage is not limited to that only. A common joke made out of this word is it being refered to one being a politic-king!

The art of politicking has been around for ages. It has been there ever since the start of civilisation – when men realised the need for a social order. From there, groups formed leaders, and slowly, over the course of time, villages formed. However, there was no law and order. Therefore, a few villages combined to form a kingdom, and till today, that form of ruling – the monarch system – still exists.

As the mind of the human race developed further, and their thinking more acute, they adopted the system of a republic. Then, the style of ruling that today is mostly practised by the Commonwealth nations is the system of Parliament. And of course you have Communism and totalitarianism, the least popular choices of ruling among them all.

In all the cases mentioned above, the man with the highest rank is obviously the man with the most power. Power – something that derides most humans, something so many of us carve for. And hence, the age-old tradition of politicking basically starts from there. Squabbles for power, battle for supremacy and ascendency to the highest office sums up the word ‘politicking’.

In today’s world of ours, there are so many masters of this art. The people mentioned above earlier are just the tip of the iceberg – for there are so many other politicians out there with the same nature. The chances of you finding a politician devoid of any sort of politicking in his entire career is almost next to none.

So much so, this art of politicking is starting to become a social menace. That is because companies, sports teams, and even prefectorial bodies in schools are plagued by this problem. The CEO’s seat in a company, the captain’s armband of a football team, or the opportunity of being the Head Prefect of a school can just be too much for a prospective candidate to bear.

Soon, that candidate realises the best way would be to resort showing that he or she is the most capable. At this juncture, they start boasting to boost their image. They start showing why they are the best suited candidate to land the million-dollar job. The deliver rousing speeches, mimicking those given by politicians who are in the running for President or Parliament.

However, sooner rather than later, rifts start to come to pass. The cracks in an organisation start to appear, some of them being beyond the point of repairability.

In terms of literal politics, political turmoil envelopes nations after they face general elections. Then, the blame game starts. The losing side ceases to back down. The economy of a nation can suffer as a side effect of endless and ceaseless politicking, as well as the peace of the general population.

Our long lost friend Hitler was himself a professional politicker. He made use of people and he played many other circumstances to serve his needs. In the end, he became the authoritive ruler of Germany, and look at the destruction he caused.

Of course, you will be wondering why on Earth is Obama in this category of people too. That is because in his campaign speeches, he said this and that and this and that. No doubt he has been a good leader, but not much has been practised as far as his preachings are concerned.